Iran's IRGC holds anti-helicopter drills in Tehran: What to know
Iran said it downed two US helicopters last month as American forces use the aircraft for strikes in the Gulf.
Adam Lucente May 13, 2026
An anti-US banner depicting a helicopter being fired upon is displayed along a street in Tehran on April 6, 2026. — ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images
عربي简体中文Español
Iranian forces concluded military exercises on countering helicopter attacks near Tehran on Wednesday as tensions escalated amid fresh US threats and reports that Gulf states carried out strikes on Iran.
What happened: An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps division in Tehran for countering helicopter operations conducted the five-day drill in and around the capital. The exercise focused on defense against helicopter assaults by the “American-Zionist enemy” and training for such scenarios, the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency reported.
Footage aired by the state media outlet Press TV showed IRGC forces using drones to strike a banner depicting a US Black Hawk helicopter.
During the IRGC's drill in Tehran, an FPV drone struck a banner depicting a ‘Black Hawk’ helicopter, mocking the incident in Isfahan where Black Hawk helicopters were destroyed.
Follow: https://t.co/mLGcUTS2ei pic.twitter.com/OiD5TsSByn
— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) May 12, 2026
Iran claimed to have downed two Black Hawk helicopters in Isfahan in early April during a US operation to rescue the crew of an F-15 fighter jet that Iranian forces had shot down. The crew was ultimately recovered, and the US military did not officially comment on Iran’s claims regarding the helicopters.
Additional footage of the drill circulated by pro-Iran accounts on X showed soldiers firing machine guns at targets from the ground and from mounted positions on trucks.
Brig. Gen. Hassan Hassanzadeh, who oversaw the exercise, said members of the Basij paramilitary force participated alongside IRGC personnel. The drill was named after slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to Tasnim.
Why it matters: Iran has sought to project strength amid stalled diplomacy with the United States and renewed American threats of military action. Iranian military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Mohammad Akraminia told reporters on Wednesday that Iran would not allow any country to transfer American weapons through the Strait of Hormuz, touting Tehran’s “dominance” over the strategic waterway.
Iran has restricted international vessels in the strait — through which around a fifth of global oil and gas exports normally pass — since early March in response to the war. The United States began a blockade of Iran last month.
Iranian Defense Ministry spokesperson Brig. Gen. Reza Talaei Nik warned on Tuesday that any new attacks on Iran would trigger a “regret-inducing response.”
President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened Iran with renewed strikes if Tehran does not agree to a deal. Before departing for China on Tuesday, Trump told reporters, “We’re either going to make a deal or they’re going to be decimated.”
The United States and Iran appeared to edge closer to an agreement last week aimed at ending the war and establishing a framework for more detailed negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. Trump also paused the US operation escorting ships stranded in Hormuz last week, though no agreement has yet materialized.
American and Iranian officials last held direct talks in Pakistan on April 12, four days after a ceasefire in the US-Israel-Iran war took effect.
On Sunday, Trump called Iran’s response to the latest US proposal “totally unacceptable.”
Helicopters have featured prominently in recent US military operations against Iran. US Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper said Army Apache and Navy Seahawk helicopters destroyed six Iranian boats that were threatening ships in the Gulf last week.
Tehran has sustained heavy damage during the war. Bloomberg reported last month that more than 39,000 residential units in the city had been seriously damaged, citing the Tehran municipality.
Iranian forces regularly conduct military drills and took part in a joint exercise with Russia and China near the Strait of Hormuz in February, just days before the United States and Israel launched their attack on the Islamic Republic.
Know more: Reuters reported on Tuesday that the Saudi air force carried out several strikes on Iran in late March in retaliation for Iranian attacks on the kingdom.
A day earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported that the United Arab Emirates had struck Iran in early April, likewise in response to Iranian attacks.
Iran has not commented on the reports.
Related Topics
Iran-US tensions
Iran-Israel conflict
Military Industry